Girls In Love: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood
by SnicketSister
Summary: UPDATED WITH CHAPTER FIVE! Bridget's life is altered forever, Carmen is faced with the most important decision of her life, Tibby goes professional, and Lena finds someone who will really care for her.
1. Chapter 1

Girls In Love: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood

4 years ago, 4 girls found a pair of magical pants. They were fantastic pants that made them all look like supermodels. I bet you're thinking I'm making this up as I go along, that perhaps a dancing purple dragon comes along and steals the pants or something ridiculous like that. But it's true. I know. I was one of those girls. If you know about us and our pants, you can skip ahead a little bit, and for those of you who don't know about us, you can read on.

"We" were "We" before "We" were born. Our moms took a prenatal aerobics class (can you imagine?) at Gilda's Gym in Bethesda. They were all due in September, and the aerobics lady kept on torturing them with the easiest moves possible. The "Septembers" started hanging out after the sessions, insulting the aerobics lady and discussing birth plans.

Then we were born, all girls except for my twin Perry. Lena came first, around the end of August, and Carmen came last in the middle of September. The Septembers still hung out together, but as the years went by they disbanded. Then my mom died and left a huge gouge in their friendship.

But we were the real Septembers-sticking together in good times and in bad. What are we like? I'll use some corny alliteration. There's Lena, the Gentle Greek. Tibby's just the opposite, a Ravishing Rebel. Carmen is the Flaming Female. And I'm the-um, Bouncy Blonde? I don't know. Stupid alliteration.

Then Carmen bought a pair of pants at a thrift store next to a health food place called Yes! These were The Pants. They magically fit all of us, and they still magically fit all of us. We used the pants to stay in touch the first summer we were apart, but they became more than that. They are the glue that holds us together.

It's been a whole year now, and a tough year at that. We all faced college, and that alone was harder than anything we've ever been through. But we made it. All four of us. And tomorrow night, we're going to launch the first summer of the girls to women.

_That's the first chapter, everybody. I will be releasing the second chapter in a day or two. Please R&R! Thanks._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Bridget slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and glanced excitedly around the room. Her feet tapped out a little impatience dance on the carpeted floor. Where was everybody? They should have been here by now… Bridget fumbled for her cell phone. Then there was a loud thunk and something fell on top of her.

"BEE!" squealed Carmen. "Oh my God, I can't believe how much older you look!" She gave Bridget a crushing bear hug. Bridget hugged back.

"I can't believe it's only been a year-" Bridget began, then something fell on Carmen and Bridget fell over again.

"CARMEN! BEE!" screamed Tibby. "Where have you guys been? We thought you were dead!" she exclaimed. Lena stood about a foot away, preferring not to jump on people to show affection.

"Were we supposed to meet at Carousel 6 or 16?" giggled Bridget.

"6? 16? I was waiting at 12!" smiled Carmen.

"We were waiting at 16," Lena said. "And Tibby started to freak out."

Everybody laughed. Bridget felt incredibly happy and loved.

"So let's pile into the chuck wagon, shall we?" Carmen asked, pointed to her red car outside.

"But stop piling on me!" gasped Bridget.

Later on, the four girls were sitting in the tiny Honda driving to Bethesda.

"So I started working on my first major film," Tibby exclaimed. "It's computer animated."

"Move over, Pixar! Here comes Tibby!" Bridget teased.

"Don't worry, it sucks," Tibby assured. "I hate my teacher. But he said I had a good thing going with my filmmaking."

"How's art school?" Carmen asked Lena, who was staring out the window.

"Oh. It's going great. The scholarship was a real blessing." Lena replied. She continued to stare out the window.

"What's wrong, Lenny?" asked Bridget.

Lena fiddled with the pockets of her khakis. "Nothing. I'm just worried about next year. Art school was harder than I thought." This was awfully suspicious, but Bridget asked no further questions.

"What about you, Bee?" asked Tibby. "How's Brown?"

"Awesome. I just tried out for the National Women's Soccer Team. It is SO going to rock if I get in."

"You'll get in, Bee. We know you." Carmen grinned.

"Hey Carmen, was your Williams dream worth pursuing?" Tibby challenged.

"Oh yeah," Carmen said, absentmindedly. The car jerked to a stop as Carmen pulled up Tibby's driveway.

"TIBBY!" Two little voices, followed by two little bodies, came flying down the driveway.

"Nicky! Katherine! Hi guys! Boy, are you, um, big!" Tibby exclaimed, stepping out of the car and grabbing her bags from the trunk. She gave them a big hug.

"Remember Tibs! 2:00 at Gilda's tonight!"

"Got it! See you guys!" Tibby waved.

The little red car drove on.

"Bee, we're stopping at your place next. Is anybody home?"

"Well, I know my dad will be. Perry is staying at Harvard for summer classes. It's so lonely at home."

"How's Aisha Lennox?" Lena asked. "I remember you told me about her when you found out she was your roommate. You thought she had a cool name."

"God, Lena, you have a good memory. Anyway, she's awesome. Really smart and pretty."

"Oh. Okay."

"Is Win going to meet you at your house?" Bridget said.

Carmen blushed.

"Oh, Carmi, don't worry," Lena laughed. "Just be glad YOUR family isn't throwing you a gigantic homecoming party."

"Yikes, Lenny," Bridget giggled.

"It can't be that bad, Lena," Carmen consoled.

"Two words: Backyard Barbecue."

"Well, in that case it's completely different. Bee-bee, we're here!"

Bridget stepped out of the car and snatched up her duffel bag.

"No homecoming for me, girls. I'll see you at Gilda's tonight."

"Two o' clock," reminded Carmen.

"Gotcha. See you then!" Bridget rang her doorbell and Carmen pulled out of the driveway.

As they drove away, Carmen flipped on the radio.

"So Lenny, tell me more about this homecoming party."

"They're going to invite all their friends, Effie's friends, the cousins, aunts, uncles and clients. Oh yeah. And everybody's children. The backyard is going to be a zoo."

"You're incredibly lucky, Lena. Hey! I just remembered. Ryan will be a year old this summer. Oh my God, how could I forget?"

"We're here, Carmen."

"Oh! Yes, sorry. Here you go Lena. See you tonight! Good luck!"

"Thanks for the drive, bye Carmi!"

Lena pulled her suitcase from the trunk and walked to the door. Carmen pretended to drive away, but was really staying to watch the action. Lena rang the doorbell.

A flood of people poured out the front door and clustered so close around Lena that Carmen lost sight of her. There must have been 50 of them.

"WELCOME HOME LENA!" they screamed.

Carmen snickered and drove away. Now it was time for her to go home. She wondered if they had changed at all. The only one she had seen in the past year was Win, who came out every other weekend and on major holidays. She parked the car in the underground lot, and then took the elevator up to the fifth floor. Anxiously, she walked to Apartment #523. She knocked on the old, smelly door. She remembered that door, and its useless knocker that nobody used. Christina opened it.

"_Nena_! It's you! She hugged Carmen so tightly that Carmen thought she might stop breathing. "Come inside, come inside, Win is here. He's come to see you. You must see Ryan, the little darling. Quickly, come inside."

Carmen came inside. David was sitting on the sofa with Win and Ryan. Ryan was gurgling happily and drooling on a leather pillow.

"Hi Carmi," Win said, jumping up from the sofa and giving her a big kiss.

"Hello Carmen," smiled David, shaking her hand and giving her a quick hug.

"Want to meet Ryan?" asked Christina eagerly, holding Ryan up by his waist.

"Ah-go-bah!" shrieked Ryan giddily, waving his hands in the air. He was awfully cute.

"Well, you don't say," replied Carmen. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"_Nena_, I made you dinner," Christina said, gesturing to a fancily set table with heaps of taco shells, ground beef, peppers, and cheese. "Ben & Jerry's for dessert."

"It's great to be home, mom," said Carmen, hugging her mom again.

"It's great to have you home, Carmen," said Win. "Hey-can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure Win," replied Carmen.

"In private."

"Oh. Sure."

Win took Carmen by the hand and led her into her old room.

"To celebrate your homecoming-" he paused, "would you like to go to the Bethesda Yacht Club tomorrow?"

Carmen gasped. "Seriously? But it's impossible to get reservations-"

He eyed her anxiously.

"Of course!" she screamed, and gave him a huge hug and kiss.

Lena stood in the crowded backyard. She could not believe her parents. There were too many people here. All she wanted to do was crawl into a dark hole. Effie and her newest boyfriend, Josh, were making out on the tree stump. 10 or 11 children were having a water fight in the pool, and various people Lena didn't know milled around, burgers and beer in hand. It may have been Lena's homecoming party, but Lena didn't feel at home at all. She wished she was back at RISD. She hadn't told anyone, but in a week she was driving back up to Rhode Island with Paul Rodman.

"Hey Lena! Get over here!" hollered Effie, who had stopped kissing Josh and was now surrounded by a crowd of teenagers. "They want to see your artwork."

Lena stopped in her tracks. "No way, Effie. NO way."

"But come on Lena, they loved that picture you did of those pants you have."

Lena was shocked. Shocked and utterly flattened. Words could only come out one at a time.

"You…took…my…drawing?"

"Yeah," Effie scanned Lena's face. "Is that okay?"

"NO!" Lena screamed. Everybody in the yard stopped talking and stared at her. "Effie. That is MINE! That is VERY important to me!"

"Whoa, chill Lena," said Effie. "It's just a picture."

"No, it's not! It's-" She stopped, not believing herself. Here she was, not an hour from arrival, and she was throwing a temper tantrum.

"You can have it back if you really want," muttered Effie. "Here."

She handed the picture to Lena, who grabbed it and ran into the house. The minute she stepped inside, she stopped. Tears streamed down her face as she raced to her old room. She longed for its comfort.

When she opened her door, the tears came even faster. Because it wasn't her room anymore. All her things were gone, replaced by a sewing machine and a sofa. Lena threw herself down on the sofa and let the tears flow. She didn't care anymore.

"Hey, um, Lena?" said a voice, coming from the door.

"What?" she mumbled.

"It's me, Ari," said the voice. Ari sat down on the sofa beside Lena. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I know how much that drawing means to you. Please just-" Lena studied the lines on Ari's face. "Come back outside."

She gave Lena a big hug. "Effie's gone to Burger King with all her friends."

Lena grinned and got up. She wiped the tears off her face. Thank God for Burger King.

Tibby sat at the head of the dining room table.

"We're having a fancy dinner tonight, Tibby!" smiled Katherine. "For you because you're here!"

"Tomato and Basil Spaghetti," Tibby's mom provided.

"Yucky," exclaimed Nicky, pounding on the table and pulling something large, green, and fluffy out from under his chair.

"Tibby, this is my turtle! He can wiggle, and go inside his shell!" Nicky shrieked. "Look! Look!" He held up the turtle puppet for Tibby to see. Tibby examined it. It was very cute, but she didn't say so because it smelled a wee bit like cat poop.

"Nicky, no toys at the dinner table," said Mrs. Rollins. She glanced apologetically at Tibby. Tibby said nothing. But she smiled.

"Brian is coming over tomorrow, you know," Mr. Rollins provided.

Tibby's smile grew wider. She hadn't seen Brian since Easter. She was looking forward to seeing him again, and she didn't look forward to many things.

"So how's the Sisterhood?" asked Tibby's mom.

"Great," said Tibby, not knowing what else to say. "We're doing the Pants inauguration tonight." She smiled even more and touched the tiny, silver pants charm on her ponytail.

"Really? Well, Ari and Christina and I were planning to do something similar. Traveling Shoes."

Tibby guffawed. "Did you seriously find a pair of shoes to fit all three of you?"

She shrugged. "Nope. We went out and bought matching shoes in different sizes."

Nicky thrust his turtle puppet down. "Mommy! I wanna' be in a sisterhood!"

Tibby put her hand on Nicky's shoulder. "I'm afraid you can't, Nickster."

"What about turtle? Can he be in a sisterhood?"

Mrs. Rollins guffawed this time. Tibby choked on her water.

"Why not Mommy?"

Mrs. Rollins grinned. "It's a girl thing, Nicky." She winked at Tibby.

"I'm a girl! Can I be in a sisterhood?" Catherine asked pleadingly.

"No! And that's quite enough about sisterhoods!" Mr. Rollins slammed down his drinking glass.

The meal went on, and despite Mr. Rollins's angry words, the smile remained on her face.

Bridget chucked her duffel bag on her bed and glanced around gleefully. Everything was still there. "There's enough space in this house," her dad had said. "Your and Perry's rooms are still intact." His words were true. Her cruddy little "I Heart Soccer!" poster remained on her wall, along with countless pictures of Eric. Seeing as there was nothing to do until her dad took her to Pizza Hut in three hours, she decided to kill sometime checking her e-mail. She sat down at her desk and flicked on the computer.

"You have 392 new messages!" it squealed.

"Darn," mumbled Bridget. She deleted all the e-mail that had come during the year, plus spam. There was a quick note that came from Eric. She clicked on it.

"Hi Bee,

Hope you got home safe! How goes the sisterhood? It's been, what, four years now? Anyway, talk to you later.

Love,

Eric."

She grinned and whacked the "Reply" button.

"Hey Eric,

I got home fine. The plane ride was quick and painless. The airport was not. First, this weird dude tried to confiscate my cell phone. He couldn't speak English. And then when I met Lena, Carmen, and Tibby, they all dogpiled on me. LOL How's Columbia? C-ya!

Love,

Bee-bee."

She sent it, then glanced at her watch. It had taken a full 45 minutes to sift through her inbox and answer Eric's e-mail. She sighed with boredom and thought about her choices. She could a) eat, b) sleep, c) play some stupid game on the internet. She chose choice c.


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's Chapter 3, and sorry for the delay. I've been on vacation lately. _

Bridget awoke with a sharp ringing from her alarm clock. It was 1:00. She grinned and leapt out of bed, not tired in the least. Whipping on a black hoodie and sweatpants, she snatched a paper clip from her desk. Excitement ran through her veins. It was time for the annual break and enter at Gilda's.

She tiptoed down the stairs and raced to the door. She felt the cool night air. It was off to Gilda's. The walk wasn't long, but she went along briskly. She loved it, though it didn't even compare to Baja. But something was wrong. She could feel it, so she walked faster. It wasn't until she got there, WAY too early, at 1:15, that she knew.

Gilda's had been demolished. There was nothing but a pile of rubble and a sign that read: "Future Home of Fat Tony's New York Pizza!" Bridget stared and stared at the pile, waiting for a miracle. It didn't come. Time passed and Bridget continued to stare. She heard footsteps and came out of her trance. She screamed. There was a dark figure coming down the sidewalk. It also screamed.

"Is that you, Bridget?" It was Carmen.

"Yes. They demolished Gilda's."

Carmen stopped dead in her tracks.

"No way," she cried.

"It says a pizza place is moving in."

Carmen moved up alongside Bridget and held her hand tight. "What are we going to do?"

Another dark figure came down the sidewalk. "Bee! Carmen!" She ran closer. "Where's Tibby, she was supposed to bring the-" Lena stopped. "Oh no." Her voice wavered.

Bridget gave her a hug.

"Tibby was right," Carmen said. "She thought Gilda's would go soon and we didn't believe her."

"How could we ever have been so stupid?" sobbed Lena.

The last dark figure was flying down the sidewalk with a large box in her arms.

"Guys! Sorry I'm late! I brought the pants," Tibby said, excited.

No one answered. "What's wrong?" asked Tibby.

Speechlessly Lena pointed to the pile of rubble that was now their past.

"Oh, crap," exclaimed Tibby. She stared at it too. In a strained voice barely above a whisper she said "I knew it."

Tibby hurled the box down and it bounced into the pile. Everybody stared at it for minutes. Finally, Bridget walked into the pile and scooped up the pants. She bravely sat down among the broken boards and found an old blue exercise mat. Her eyes welled with tears. A hand came down on her shoulder.

"We can still do this," said Lena, as she bravely sat down. Carmen waded in as well, followed by Tibby. They looked around and realized, with a certain amount of shock that they were all holding hands.

"Let's do it then," replied Bridget, squeezing Tibby and Lena's hands. Carmen laid the rules down on top of the pants and the four of them sat there, staring at the pants with the wind blowing in their faces. Bridget closed her eyes.

"To honor the Pants and the Sisterhood

And this moment and this summer and the rest of our lives

Together and apart."

They opened their eyes and looked at each other. Tibby was stroking the pants lovingly, tears running down her face. Lena was biting her lip and Carmen's face was invisible through the tiny hole in her jacket hood. Bridget was the only dry eye.

"I can't stand it here," mumbled Lena.

"Can't we go someplace else, guys?" Bridget begged.

Tibby lifted her face and Carmen ripped off her hood. "That actually sounds like a good idea," replied Carmen.

"But where?" asked Tibby.

Bridget racked her brain. There were so many places. The 7-11. The Rockwood pool. Their high school. And then her eyes lit up.

"We'll go to the thrift store."

Carmen pulled the hood of her sweater off. "Sounds good," she said between sniffles.

Lena scooped up the pants and pulled the pants away from Tibby. "I'm sick of tears."

"Same," muttered Tibby. "Let's go." Without another word, the four rose.

_That's it, I should have Chapter 4 on the net soon and it will be the beginning of their adventures. Please R &R!_


	4. Chapter 4

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Polysporin, Band-Aid, Pixar, or The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants. _**

**_Alright, here's Chapter Four. I will try to get better at updates so Chapter 5 will be up soon. Thanks, my faithful reviewers: loonypadfoot1641, redsoxfreak01, toostupidforyou, Riza-4789, coolmarauders, Quinni, catmiester, H.J. Glory, and SilentFlight. You guys rock!_**

Chapter Four

Lena woke up on the floor, a little disoriented. She lay there for a few minutes, trying to answer the basic questions of where she was and how she had gotten there. When she realized she had fallen off the sofa in her sleep, she glanced at the clock.

"What the heck? 2:30 already?" she mumbled, and stood up. Last night was a distant memory. She quickly got dressed and went downstairs. Nobody was home and there was no toast left. She pulled out a random box of cereal. Raisin Bran. Yuck. As she chewed listlessly, she realized she had no plans for the day. She rinsed out her bowl and put it in the dishwasher. Then she decided to poke around for a while in the family portfolio. She unearthed many interesting things, including Effie's report card (straight B's)! Lena laughed. She lifted the report card and was silent. Lying amidst various school photos was the sketch of Kostos. Lena's eyes widened. Hadn't she destroyed this? She couldn't look. It was too painful. She shoved everything back in the box and put the box on its shelf.

She went back up to her room and called Paul on her cell phone.

"Hi, Paul Rodman here."

"It's Lena."

"Oh, hey Lena. What is it?"

"Can you pick me up tomorrow?"

"But I thought we were going next week."

"Yeah, I need to go back now. Unless it's not convenient-"

"Oh no! It's fine. But not tomorrow-does the day after tomorrow work? That's when I'll be in Bethesda."

"Okay. Sure. See you then!"

"Bye."

Lena sighed. It was like she couldn't even remember Kostos or her world would shatter.

But Paul was completely different. She didn't know if she loved him, but there was definitely something between them.

Mr. and Mrs. Rollins were at work and Catherine and Nicky were at school. There was nothing standing between Tibby and the home phone…

She lunged for it and dialled the operator.

"Hi, this is Operator Kevin, what can I do for you?"

Tibby put on her best Chinese accent.

"Hello. Is monitor necessary when buying computer?"

There was silence on the other end of the line. "Is that a serious question?"

"Yes. On e-bay they say is full computer, but does not seem to work very well. I phone helpline, they say I need something called monitor. But I think they lying to me."

"Well, then, it is ma'am."

"Good then. Thank you for your time."

Tibby hung up and let out a huge laugh. She loved torturing the operators. What should she say next? The phone happened to ring randomly. It was probably one of Mrs. Rollin's dorky friends. She decided to torture him or her.

"Hi, this is Barbie from Pizza Hut. May I take your order?"

"Oh pardon. Wrong number."

The guy on the other end hung up.

Tibby giggled. She remembered the time she called the operators to ask the meaning of life… she could do that again!

Just as she was reaching for the phone, it rang. Again.

Tibby growled and picked it up. She was just about to launch into her Pizza Hut monologue when the person spoke.

"Hello. This is Professor Jonstone from NYU. May I speak to Tabitha Tomko-Rollins?"

"This is she."

"Oh! Hello Tabitha. I've called to let you know about that project you did about a pair of pants walking around the world."

Tibby blushed.

"I sent it into a major animation studio a few months ago. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is work on the video editing team of their next feature film, entitled

'Speedy.' It's about turtles."

Tibby was silent with joy.

"Hello?"

"I'm still here."

"It does pay, you know. And it's close to the NYU campus."

"Yes! Yes, I'll do it! I'd love to!"

"Great. You start Monday. I'll send you an e-mail package."

"Thanks. Bye."

Tibby felt like dancing. This was utterly, totally fantastic! Her first real job, doing something she liked! Wallman's really didn't count.

Bridget adjusted the sound on her new iPod then slipped it in her pocket. She was going out for a run, which she hadn't done for a long time. As she launched into her warm-up routine she felt the Bridget energy crackling through her. She wanted to be on the team so badly. Her coach said she was a shoo-in. Bridget knew it wasn't true, but every time she thought of those words they made her smile. She imagined crowds of thousands cheering her on as she bent the ball into the net.

Her feet hit the pavement. Bridget forgot about everything and just ran. Everything was perfect. She turned at her regular forest trail and put the peddle to the metal. With exhilaration, she raised her face to the sky.

"This is perf-" she began.

All of a sudden she was flat on her face. Bridget's mouth filled with mud as she raised her head again and spat out the muck. This time it was not out of joy, but of fear. She rolled over and looked at herself. Apparently she had tripped on a root. There was a pretty big cut below Bridget's knee. She tried to stand up and fell back down again. Now she was scared. She had to pull herself up somehow…

Bridget grabbed a largish stick and hoisted herself up. God, it even hurt to stand on it with support! She plunged forward, taking large awkward steps. After a while she got the hang of it and thought about the injury. Tryouts were in a few weeks- it should have healed by then. But what if it was something worse than a cut? She swallowed grimly and felt a horrible taste going down her throat. The mud, she thought.

It was a long walk home, only made longer with the new difficulties. When she got home she used Polysporin and about 6 band-aids to cover the wound. After a few hours she pulled back the loose band-aids to look at the cut. It wasn't healing very fast, but it didn't hurt as much now. She wondered if they would let you into the National Women's Team if you were wounded… What if they didn't want her? She had been waiting for this since she was 3. She would just have to grin and bear it. Also ignore it. Sighing, she reached for her pyjamas, though it was only 9. There was nothing else she could do, she thought.

All of a sudden her computer made a little tinkling noise. She got up and looked at the screen. It was Eric. She switched on her webcam.

"Hey, Bee!" he said, smiling.

"Hi Eric. How are things?"

"Great. How are things for you?"

"Just fine."

"When are your soccer tryouts?"

"Two weeks. I can't wait!"

"Wow. I'll be there, Bumblebee. Anything else?"

"I've got this ugly cut below my knee."

"I can see that."

Bridget realized with horror she was sitting cross legged in front of the webcam. She lowered her knees so they were no longer visible.

"Sorry."

"How'd it happen?"

"I tripped on a root."

"Darn. I hope you get better soon."

"Thanks. What's going on in NY?"

"Nothing much. I can't wait to see you again."

"Me neither," said Bridget.

Eric appeared to kiss the lens.

"Awww." Bridget kissed the lens too.

"I have to go now, but I'll talk to you soon."

"Kay. Bye."

The conversation ended and Bridget went to bed, feeling a lot happier.

Carmen and Win sat on the patio of the yacht club. It was a lovely, clear night and the band was playing softly at the other end of the patio. Win was wearing what looked like a tux. Carmen felt conspicuous in her red slip dress. She wondered how much this dinner had cost, and didn't ask. Everything was too perfect.

"Thank you so much Win. This is lovely."

"Very lovely indeed," replied Win. But he was not looking at the band, or the view. He was looking at Carmen. He leaned over and kissed her very gently. Carmen blushed. The band stopped playing and looked at Win. Carmen stared at him in awe as he got out of his chair and knelt on one knee. This was NOT happening. She was in ecstasy.

"Carmen, you the most lovely person I have ever met. Will you…" he swallowed. Everyone on the patio was now looking at him.

"Marry me, Carmen."

Carmen was starstruck. This was huge. Win looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Yes!" she cried and gave him a bear hug. The patio erupted into loud cheers and the band picked up the music. This was the best evening of her life.


	5. Chapter 5

**You thought it was over, but now it's back! Yes, people, after 9 months, this story is back up and running with a new chapter! As I mentioned on my profile page, I'm kind of unpredictable, so I'm not making any promises here, but I will never deprive my fans of an update for so long ever again. I will produce at least one chapter a month. You have my word.**

**Oh, and top honours to whoever can name the band who wrote the song lyrics I quote in here (and the name of the song, of course). :) **

"_Six o'clock in the morning/You're the last to hear the warning/You've been trying to throw your arms around the world." _

Carmen opened her eyes and saw a quickly moving blur. Her head spun and throbbed, dipping between reality and fantasy. There was music coming from somewhere. A heavy, itchy throw blanket had been tossed across her and she threw it off. She probably had a hangover. But she didn't drink alcohol, did she? No, and she most definitely hadn't last night. Was it possible to be drunk from shock?

"_You've been falling off the sidewalk/Your lips move but you can't talk/You've been trying to throw your arms around the world._"

She slowly faded into consciousness. The moving blur on the roof was a ceiling fan that had been set to "Hurricane." Carmen whacked the switch on the wall and the ceiling fan ceased twirling. She heard a loud clicking noise and saw the ring on her finger. For the first time, she examined it carefully. It featured a diamond set in silvery white, perhaps platinum, and surrounded by pearls. It was just gorgeous.

"_A woman needs a man/Like a fish needs a bicycle/When you're trying to throw your arms around the world._"

She saw David step out of the kitchen, adjusting his tie. "Hello, Carmen."

"Um, hi," she greeted him. "Where is that music coming from?"

"My alarm clock went off. Sorry if I woke you…?"

"Oh, no worries. I just- it, um- never mind. What's the song?" Carmen asked. What she really wanted to say was "_What the heck? A man needs a woman like a fish needs a bicycle_? "

"Oh, um, never mind," David waved his hand dismissively. He looked a bit embarrassed. "Old people music."

"Oh. Okay." Carmen gathered the itchy throw in her arms. "Where should I put this?"

"In the linen closet. Just in here." David thumbed toward a small folding door.

"Thanks."

"See you later."

David picked up a smart leather briefcase and walked out the apartment door. The song changed a few moments later- some moody number with a lot of "oo-oo" and "baby, baby, baby."

"Mom?" she hollered.

"Nena! You're up!" Carmen's mom emerged from the bathroom wearing a bathrobe, hair soaking wet. "I was just waiting for you to get up so I could make breakfast. How did your date with Win go last night?" The corners of her mouth twitched and her eyes sparkled.

"Oh, mom," Carmen whispered and held up her right hand.

"I heard! Oh, Carmen!" Her mom threw her arms around Carmen and hugged her tight. "You grew up just like that." She gave a half-hearted snap of her fingers and Carmen saw the tears welling up in her mother's eyes. Ryan started to wail from his crib.

"Mom, I love you. Why don't you make breakfast? I'll take care of Ryan."

"Thank you, sweetie. His changing table is in the bathroom."

Carmen slid into the baby's nursery, where Ryan was shrieking in his white crib. She pulled him out and snuggled him close. He continued bawling as she carried him into the bathroom, one hand pinched over her nose. As she laid him on the table, her ring glinted off the mirror.

"I should probably take this off, should I?" she mumbled and laughed to herself. She slid it off and put it on the corner of the counter near the sink. Then she rolled up her pajama sleeves and started to change the diaper.

About five minutes later, Carmen scooped up the now laughing Ryan and sat him down firmly on the counter before washing her hands. After she dried herself off she reached for the ring. It wasn't on the corner where she'd left it. She did a double take and combed the counter with her eyes. It wasn't there. She lifted Ryan up and looked where he had been sitting. Nothing. Biting her lip, she glanced into the open toilet. It wasn't there either, thank heavens.

Now she was really nervous. She checked her hands to make sure she hadn't absentmindedly stuck it on one of her fingers. Not there. She knelt down on her hands and knees and crawled around the bathroom. Suddenly she heard Ryan wailing and jumped up, bashing her head on the towel rack. She let out a short, sharp, swear word and kicked the wall. Then she picked up Ryan and carried him into the kitchen, bouncing him up and down so he would stop crying.

"Who's a fussy baby?" she said, walking around the living room in dizzy circles while Ryan screamed in her arms. Her head still throbbed from hitting the rack. Maybe she was going loopy.

"Carmen, honey! Your breakfast is ready!" Carmen's mom appeared at the front of the room. "I'll take care of him for you, sweetie." Carmen eagerly handed Ryan over and walked into the kitchen to eat her pancakes and get some peace. Just as she entered the kitchen, she heard the phone ring and picked it up.

"Oh, hey Carmen. It's Win."

"Win!" Carmen feigned enthusiasm. "I'm so… so glad you, um, called!"

"Something wrong?" Carmen could sense the worry and anxiety in his voice. Did he think she had cold feet this soon into the engagement?

"No! No, nothing's wrong. Definitely not that, nope."

"Oh, that's good."

"So, um, why'd you call?" Carmen carried the phone with her to the table.

"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to see how you were."

"Okay. Well, I'm fine. Thanks for calling. It was so sweet of you."

"No problem. Well, catch you later, I guess."

Carmen clicked the "Hang Up" button on the phone and laid it down in a pile of gooey maple syrup. Great. How could this day get _any _worse?

Tibberon: Hey Lena.

lkaligaris101: yeah?

Tibberon: why'd you change your ID?

lkaligaris101: privacy issues

Tibberon?

lkaligaris101: tibs, don't tell ANYONE.

Tibberon: lips r sealed

lkaligaris101: promise? this is serious.

Tibberon: cross my heart and hope to die

lkaligaris101: I think I have a stalker.

Tibberon: WHAT?

lkaligaris101: yeah

Tibberon: tell, tell!

lkaligaris101: OK, so first day of college. I arrive at my first class. cute boy sitting in middle row. he smiles and sorta waves so i sit away from him.

lkaligaris101: then after class he's all "wanna hang out at lunch?" and I'm like "get a life".

Tibberon: what did he look like?

lkaligaris101: really bright blue eyes and red hair, like, exploding from his head, the kind of hair you can't fix unless you shave it all off

Tibberon: thin? fat? tall? short?

lkaligaris101: sorta thin, but same height as me.

Tibberon: I c. go on.

lkaligaris101: same story every day after. then I don't know how, but he got my email and started sending me all these weird love notes and all this spam.

Tibberon: yikes.

lkaligaris101: so that's why I changed my ID. new email, new MSN, everything. thank goodness he didn't get my cell number.

Tibberon: wow, that IS scary. stupid creep. did you tell anyone?

lkaligaris101: no

Tibberon: WHYever NOT?

lkaligaris101: it's not serious! it's over now.

Tibberon: no wonder you hated art school.

lkaligaris101: I don't hate art school I hated the boy.

lkaligaris101: creepy loser

Tibberon: if it gets worse tho tell someone and not just me

Tibberon: you sweared me to secrecy, remember?

lkaligaris101: swore you to secrecy.

Tibberon: right

lkaligaris101: please tib don't tell anyone

Tibberon: I won't relax.

lkaligaris101: comma.

Tibberon: gosh, you're worse than ever

lkaligaris101: i know.

Tibberon: anywho i leave soon for ny

lkaligaris101: I leave soon for risd.

Tibberon: no way, you're going back there? common sense lenny gosh

lkaligaris101: I know but Paul is coming w/ me.

Tibberon: don't play with fire

lkaligaris101: I organized the whole thing. if psychoman sees me with Paul, he'll get frustrated and give it up. if he's not there this summer, great, whoohoo, party summer

Tibberon: careful lena

Tibberon: wait I've got an idea

lkaligaris101: what?

Tibberon: I haven't got anywhere to stay while I do my job, checked with student housing at nyu, there's nothing.

Tibberon: can I stay with you guys at your student housing unit?

lkaligaris101: I'd have to check, but I think it'd be ok.

Tibberon: I have 2 make sure. think I can go. book me being there.

lkaligaris101: got it.

Tibberon: psychoman, here we come.

Bridget lay under the covers of her bed, shivering. She had an extra fleece throw and a sleeping bag on top of her, for pete's sake. She should be overheated, not freezing. She curled up into a ball and rolled back and forth under the covers until her nausea took over and she lay totally flat again, head spinning. That stupid cut. It had probably gotten infected. Anyway, she was totally sick. It was only a matter of time before she started throwing up. She reached over to her nightstand where she knew her bottle of water was and accidentally knocked into the (thankfully empty) throw-up bucket. Groaning, she leaned over to grab it. Her head spun from the sudden motion and she hurled into the bucket. Gross. She tossed the water bottle to the ground and let her arm hang off the side of the bed. What a way to start her summer.

The shivering had ceased and sweat started to pour down Bridget's face. She flung the covers of off the bed and stumbled down the hallway into the bathroom, where she curled up on the bathmat, along with a few towels, and fell asleep.

A few hours later, Bridget was woken from her light sleep by a knock on the bathroom door. "Bridget? You in there?" Bridget's dad said.

"Yeah, daddy, I'm in here."

"Are you okay?"

"Um, I don't think so."

Bridget heard his hand on the doorknob and she stiffened. "Is it okay for me to come in?" he asked tensely.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Bridget's dad entered the room and gasped. "Bridget, what happened?" Bridget realized her disgusting-looking knee was poking out from under the towels, and she slid it under.

"I hurt myself."

"I can see that."

"I cut my knee running today- or yesterday, I think. I'm all dizzy. I just hurled."

"Wow." It came out as just a whisper. "Bridget, did you put any antiseptic on your cut?"

"No," she whimpered.

"That wasn't very smart."

"I know," Bridget whimpered again.

"You've likely got an infection. Why aren't you in your bed?"

"It was too hot."

"Then you've likely got a fever. Here Bridget, I'll help you get back to your room. First thing in the morning I'll take you to the doctor's."

"Okay," Bridget muttered and stood up. She was surprised when her dad picked her up, just like a baby and carried her into her room. He laid her down.

"Now you rest up and I'll drive you to the doctor's in a few hours. First I have to call my secretary and tell her I'll be late."

He exited the room and Bridget looked around herself, puzzled. When had Dad ever given her that much attention? It was kind of scary, but also kind of nice. This was a whole new dad.

A few hours later, at Dr. Ayotte's office, Bridget's outcome was not good.

"So let me get this straight: you were running, you fell and cut yourself and you walked a dozen blocks home. You didn't put antiseptic on the cut, didn't treat it, you just took a nice, long bath and then MSNed your buddies." Dr. Ayotte turned to dad and adjusted her wire-framed glasses. "You didn't ask her what was wrong or anything?"

"I didn't know."

"You didn't know," Dr. Ayotte said in an exasperated tone. She flung her hands to the ceiling. "Lamest excuse ever! She's your daughter! Know where she is! Take care of her." Dad hung his head and rubbed his forehead with his temples.

"Bridget, as it is right now, I think we'll have to send you to the hospital for an x-ray. Walking on your injured knee may have made the injury worse." Dr. Ayotte chastised.

"I didn't have any choice! There was nobody else on the running path! Nobody I knew in the neighborhood to help me!" Bridget yelled. Her voice was hoarse because her throat hurt from hurling.

"You could have been carrying a cell phone to call Dad over here. Anywho, I suspect you have a busted kneecap." The doctor made some notes on her clipboard.

"No! No! Please…" Bridget cried. "I can't have a broken kneecap, I have to play soccer, I have to make the team…" she was ranting.

"Look, girl, I can't control the decisions you make. This is an unfortunate turn of events, but you'll just have to hope for the best." Dr. Ayotte looked up. "I've booked you in at 2:30 for an appointment at the general hospital. You need an x-ray badly. She might be injured more than I think. Plus, she's running a high fever."

Dr. Ayotte said more, but Bridget didn't hear her. No. No. She bent her head forward and clasped her hands together. _Please God, don't make it a broken kneecap. I need to make the national women's team so bad. Please, please." _Then she tucked her head into her knees and started to cry on the doctor's bed. _"Please, God, please." _

**Ooh! Suspense. Hopefully it wasn't too awful. I'll try to have a new chapter out relatively soon. Thanks for reading!**


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